Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-08-07

I''AAAha AAss " sHFt w 'N 49,
hat with u meaning smile, ! suddenly
discovered that | had been selected as n
second in n duel. The tall Spausard lowed
and we approached each Other While the
crowd fell back and the gambler hurried
TOmasO of toward the entrance. They
drove TO our hotel AMI the Spaniard, his
brother, the Englishmun and myself went
out on the Prada, stepped into carriage
and drove rapidly down 10 nm all lhght
~club-which was the only one open at
that hour-where we arranged the pre-
liminaries within the hour. They were
simple enough. Dueliug swords were
agreed upon as the weapons and the hour
was TO be ! O'Clock that same morning ut
a quiet place on the beach " miles from
the cemetery. The Spaniard agreed TO
bring a surgeon, which made three spec
tators on each side, not including the
principals. fhe Spaniards were courteous
and exceedingly polite in making all the
arrangements, and the whole matter was
settled within ten minutes. We parted to
meet again within four hours.
The Euglishman and drove back to the
hotel and went up to the second corridor,
where we discovered the man from Chi
cago still smoking and leaning against the
ratings outside Of his room. He looked
at us and then said:
"Welll'
They are to fight at 7 o'clock"
ANY stakes'"
Both of us grinned, but the gambler
seemed perfectly serious. because, " he
continued, 'if there are any stakes | want
TO back this yOungster right here, and I'll
show you why"
He pulled back the fiuttering curtain of
his room. We looked in and saw Tomaso
stretched ont upon the bed sleeping as
sweetly as a 2-year-old child
THAT'S what l call nerve, ' said the
Chicago man, ''and that's what like TO
back
/ think IL dawned on all Of us at that
time that the affair was no longer a farce.
We allowed the boy 10 sleep until D
o'clock, by which time we had succeeded
in finding a fencing master, and then we
aroused Tomaso, and all OF us went
round TO the gymnast's apartments in
AcQuila street. We had discovered that
Tomaso had never held a foil in his hand.
He was taught two things-how to thrust
and how TO parry. For an hour he exer-
cised there, and then we all drank coffee,
took two hacks and drove out on the sea
road, / have never seen a more thor
oughly self contained and well balanced
man in my life than the young Cuban,
who sat by my side smoking cigarettes in
that beautiful drive in the early morning.
There was a gentle breeze blowing in
from the sea. over which the suns rays
were dancing like a network Of diamonds,
and the few laborers We passed nodded
and smiled with the conventional cour-
tesy Of the children of the tropics.
We were five minutes late. for the 9TH
ers were there when we arrived. The
duelist looked more CHASTITY 10y daylight
than he had the night before, but he
bowed pleasantly TO us all. | told his
seconds that Tomaso had had no expe-
rience with the sword, but they shrugged
their shoulders carelessly. and one Of them
said something about the fortunes of war.
IL was quite evident that they knew of
the ignorance Of the boy, and that their
principal was also acquainted with the con-
dition Of affairs. To tell the truth, this
was rather "A source Of satisfaction TO me,
for | did not believe the duelist would
butcher the young Cuban outright, but
would probably exercise his skill in Civ
ing him some slight wound which would
satisfy the demands Of honor.
/ was wrong. a quicker duel was never
fought. The men faced each other and
stood for a moment with their swords
crossed. Then the duelist, who, by the
way, was as agile and firm a %swordsman
as | ever saw, made a conventional thrust
at the boy. Tomaso parted il and sprang
forward again precisely Ms he had done in
the attack after the theatre. His teeth
were set and his eyes cleaned. His IN
slaught was so unexpected and fierce that
his antagonist threw his sword too high
for the parry. and the point Of Tomaso's
sword swept under 1t with a flash like
lightning and laid open the cheek of the
duelist straight down 10 the neck. Then
the boy bounded back and stood with the
blade Of his sword clasped in his left hand
staring at his astounded foe. 1t was the
quickest thing I ever saw. The wound
was a disflguring one, but by no means
dangerous. The presence Of blood salts
fed the honor that had been so violently
outraged that night. There was a con-
ventional hand shaking and a moment
later we were rolling back to town. /
don't think we had been out Of the car.
riagc six minutes. The amazement Of the
duelist was so complete that | doubt II
he realizes to this day what had occurred,
and the hilarity OF the three Anglo-Saxohs
who had made up the party Of the young
Cuban extended far into the following
night. The ignorance of Tomaso had
saved him, for no man with n knowledge
Of fencing would have exposed himself as
he did in that furious onslaught -Blakely
Hall in New York World.